Afghan conflict leaves about 500 civilian casualties in April: report

About 500 Afghan civilians were killed and injured in clashes and terrorist attacks in April, a monitor group reported Wednesday.

“A total of 188 civilians martyred and 306 injured during the period of April 1 to April 30, 2018,” the independent Civilian Protection Advocacy Group (CPAG) said in a press release.

The group said that the casualties occurred in 23 of the country’s 34 provinces last month.

Most of the civilian casualties took place in Kabul as a result of a terrorist attack in Dasht-i-Barchi locality on April 22, when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive jacket at the middle of a crowd outside a voter registration center.

“Some 57 civilians were killed and 119 others got injured in the bombing. Among the martyred, 22 of them were women and eight children, while 52 women and 17 children got injured,” the release said.

On April 2, a high number of civilian casualties occurred after Afghan army launched an airstrike against a Taliban position in Dasht-i-Archi district of northern Kunduz province.

The bombing hit a building where a Madrasa or religious school was located, where a graduation ceremony was held for local students.

Several members of Taliban insurgents were also killed and injured in the strike.

“Statistics from the CPAG shows that 50 civilians, including 20 children, were martyred and 70 other civilians were injured in the Kunduz airstrike,” the release noted.

“From the beginning of 2018, civilian casualties were gradually rising. In April, around 500 people had been killed or injured while in the previous month of March, 443 people had been killed or injured,” it said.

The CPAG group also asked the conflicting parties to stop harming civilians and asked the government to think about the health, education and future of the children whose elders or guardians were lost in terrorist attacks, according to the release.

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